MQAblog:: Everyday commentary

09.06.05...8:04pm Why is it that the day after
a holiday is worse than just a regular Monday.
It is like..well...a Double Monday. Sure felt
like that today. After spending countless
hours in front of the TV over the past week I
am certainly getting Katrina fatigue. I see the
Bush administration is into it's usual defensive
mode. Putting Bush in "Presidential Looking"
scenarios and attacking everyone and anyone
else for their own shortcomings. Whether or
not it will work for a mess such as this
remains to be seen. I doubt it.

Bob Denver of Gilligan's Island and Dobie
Gillis fame, has passed away. Although he
wasn't in the public eye so much lately
(except for reruns) he certainly is well known
by millions. Thanks Bob for making me laugh
as a kid. I am sure there are many of others
whose life you also helped brightened up.

09.05.05 2:27 pm. Happy Labor Day! Also
welcome to all the new viewers of the
website. 09.04.05 3:33pm I was watching
Meet The Press this morning [transcript] and
saw quite a spectacle. First, was an official
from Louisiana, Jefferson Parish President
Aaron Broussard. This was a 50-something
year old man. A proud Southerner breaking
down on national television like I have never
seen before. He was telling the story of a
survivor who he promised, after talking with
federal officials, that she would be rescued on
Tuesday. After that didn't happen the feds
told him (and he told her) Wednesday. Then
Thursday. Still no help. Sadly, the woman died
on Friday night. This
grown man began
sobbing uncontrollably
at the lack of federal
help for this one
woman and thousands
of others. He became
so unglued in fact
Tim Russert, the host
of Meet The Press,
had to cut away from the uncomfortable
scene. He went to Haley Barbour, governor of
Mississippi. Governor Barbour reported that
Mississippi was "ground zero" for the
hurricane and that things were going quite
well there. He said the Federal Government
has responded quickly!

So why the difference between these two
stories? Haley Barbour, the current Governor
of Mississippi, was just a few years back, the
head of the Republican Party! We all know
how President Bush and the Republicans
reward loyalty and will carry a grudge for
years. The fact that loyalty is held in higher
esteem than competence is a hallmark of the
conservative movement. So perhaps the
people of Mississippi benefited from having a
former high ranking Republican official as
Governor. Maybe the people of Louisiana are
hurt by the fact they elected Democrats. (we
already see an attempt to shift blame to the
Democratic mayor of New Orleans). With any
other President this would be unthinkable. No
President would dare consider political
affiliation when deciding who to help first. But
in todays Red America I think it is easily
within the realm of the possible.

The other night Kayne West said "George Bush
doesn't like Black People". I think he was
wrong because he didn't finish the statement.
He should have said: "George Bush doesn't
like Black People ... unless they are
Republican". (Not too fond of non-republican
white people either). If Clarence Thomas or
Condi Rice were stuck in New Orleans you can
bet rescue efforts would have been faster.
Seems to me that those politicians who have
shown a willingness to prevent folks from
voting would not hesitate to put blame on
them for being poor and in a flood zone. These
people, regardless of race, are of no use to
George W. Bush or the GOP - and it shows.

09.03.05 10:40am. I am really becoming a huge fan of
the site Crooks&Liars (linked below). They have a
great video clip here that shows two FOX News
reporters actually rebuffing Right Wing hack and
network star Sean Hannity! (The clip will take a few
minutes to load even with high speed) Geraldo Rivera
and Shep Smith (both of whom I normally despise)
were on the scene at the Convention center in New
Orleans last night and reporting on the 5th straight
day without any help for thousands of people. Hannity
tried to spin it by talking about how the help has been
arriving and the corner was turned. Smith and Rivera,
again live on scene the with starving babies and
thousands of refugees, either ignored the partisan
questions by Sean Hannity or actually barked back at
him when he tried it. If FOX news says the Federal
government is incompetent you know that reality is
finally reaching the unreachable! If only Sean
Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and the neo cons remain true
Bush believers than they can stand with him. But that
crowd is getting smaller everyday.

We see it time and time again. When conservatives
meet reality their world view is shattered. Perhaps
that will be the silver lining of this disaster... The mass
education of Red America.

09.03.05 10:14am In a post last night I talked about
the outrageous beer specials here in Tallahassee.
Yesterday was a day of rumors about WHY the beer
was so cheap and they continue today. I have heard
from a reader that this may just be a statewide sale
having nothing to do with the hurricane. That was the
first story I heard too. The first of about a dozen. I
am not sure why they are almost giving beer away but
they certainly are. In a college town like Tallahassee
that generates plenty of excitement. And plenty of
rumors.

09.02.05 10:45pm... Rapper Kayne West was on a NBC
fund raiser live tonight and really shook things up. It
started as a normal exchange of teleprompter scripts
but took a strange turn followed by an even more
bizarre comment. West first said that troops were
been sent down to New Orleans to shoot people. Then
he floored Mike Meyers when he said that Bush didn't
care about black people. Once again the site Crooks &
Liars has the clip. Believe me it is worth it just to see
Mike Meyers (Saturday Night Live, Austin Powers)
react.

09.02.05 8:55pm..... Yes another new format. I kept
the last one exactly a month which is pretty good.
This really is getting me ready for an eventual splitting
of web sites. This will be more like a true blog ... an
update on what is going on in my life and what I am
thinking about what is going on around me. The
second site will be more like a daily newspaper. This
will not actually happen for at least a couple months
but this will let me try a few ideas out that I will
eventually incorporate.

FREE BEER!!! Well almost. With the terrible news it
seems more than a
little bizarre to report how
those of us in Tallahassee are
benefiting. Budweiser
apparently had to rid their trucks
of bottled beer so they could
reload with water for the
hurricane victim. So for some
reason they did that in
Tallahassee and all the stores
have 20 beers for $5! Let me
tell you everyone at work and home was quite excited
to hear the news. I have heard stories of mobs at the
Publix and Albertsons. This is the first weeks of
classes for FSU so it was quite a present to all the
returning students. I hope everyone has a good time,
stays safe and remain un-incarcerated.

09.02.05 6.40pm...I had to share these pictures with
you all because I really think they make a good point.
We should not be surprised that politicians who
despise government are incompetent to solve the
problems we now face. May this tragedy be the
beginning of the end of this crazy Reagan/Bush view
of what the United States should be. Let's hope! The
links I have below are great to catch up on all the
news. If you have a high speed connection and want
to see some of the best news clips of the past few
days I highly recommend the web site Crooks & Liars.